


we were something (don't you think so?)

by DoctorFitzy (KittooningMalijah)



Series: (the devil's in the details, but) you've got a friend in me [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Episode: s06e04 Code Yellow, Episode: s06e05 The Other Thing, F/M, Gen, Missing Scene, Pre-Slash, agents of shield never deserved trevor, folklore anthology, he was deke's best friend why hasn't he been mentioned in s7, i'm bitter about a lot of things, part of a series, season 6, taylor swift gave me motivation to write for the first time in a year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-07-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:41:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittooningMalijah/pseuds/DoctorFitzy
Summary: Deke wakes up from surgery only to find out that the one person he wants to talk to isn't anywhere on base.
Relationships: Deke Shaw/Sequoia (mentioned), Trevor Khan/Deke Shaw
Series: (the devil's in the details, but) you've got a friend in me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1858231
Comments: 3
Kudos: 12





	we were something (don't you think so?)

**Author's Note:**

> On twitter I've started calling this planned series "the folklore anthology" because I do have 17 fics planned, each inspired by a different song from Taylor's new album, all of them for Deke and Trevor and moments in their relationship. I will be writing and posting them out of chronological order. For example, this is the first story I've written for the series, but it's part seven, chronologically. (the series will be updated and reordered with every addition to be listed chronologically, but updates will be a little chaotic)

Between the just barely dulled pain that came from stitches tugging at his skin where it had been cut open and the headache that came from the medication in his system, Deke had determined that he wasn't in the best of shape to be moving around the base. That didn't stop him, but he was  _ aware _ of his poor decision making. He had more important things to worry about than popping a stitch or two, especially on a high tech SHIELD base where he could find a first aid kit and get patched up in virtually any room. For instance, he could be tracking down the man he  _ thought _ had been his best friend for nearly a year and demanding some answers for all of the lies and deception.

Deke shuffled up the steps when he spotted the familiar broad shoulders of SHIELD's current director, still favoring his injured side while he fought through the pain on the gentle incline. " _ Mack _ ..." The man's name came out just a bit slurred, and he made a mental note that was immediately forgotten to blame it on the painkillers making their way through his body. He reached out when he was close enough, grabbing his arm to help support his own weight and take some of the stress off of himself before speaking again. "Hey, where's Trevor? I gotta... Um..." What did he have to do again? Did they have concert tickets? A meeting they were late for? A Remorath Rumble rematch? "Wait, hold on... I know this..."

Letting out a sigh, Mack put an arm around the younger man's shoulders while turning to help him back town the steps and safer solid ground, just in case. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd seen him under the influence of something like this. At least he wasn't talking about  _ making out _ with someone, this time. "Deke, what the hell are you doing out of bed? You should be taking it easy, shouldn't you?"

Almost immediately, Deke tried to put up a fight and twisted to escape the well meaning but controlled hold on him, his expression more childish than frustrated, another side effect of his current state. If his head was clear, maybe this would be easier, but it was like pushing through a cloud just to find what words he needed, though it wasn't nearly as difficult as when he first woke up. "No, I  _ need  _ to talk to Trevor. Where is he? Is he... is he setting up the deck? I was supposed to have a meeting, before Coulson tried to kill me? I should really go to that meeting. It's with an investor. He needs to see the concepts for Remorath Rumble."

Another sigh and he was being gently pushed toward the hallway again, a firm hand on his back to make sure he didn't wriggle away again. He wasn't an agent, but the next words he heard were clearly an order, and the parts of his mind that weren't completely drug addled defaulted to following such a command. "Go back to medical, and I'll send Agent Kahn your way when he gets back with his team. Until then, listen to the doctors. The last thing we need is to explain all of this to Simmons when she gets back."

He knew he should have been more piqued by the mention of his grandmother, but this was a day of moments where he went against common sense. It wasn't as certain if he could blame that on the sedatives, but he'd do his research later, after he worried about why the implication seemed so  _ funny _ . "He's not here? Who is he with? What team is he with? That's ridiculous.  _ I'm _ his team." As soon as he finished the words, Deke let his shoulders slump and every memory he'd pushed down came flooding back - his company under attack, his best friend saving his life, his girlfriend's panic. With them came reality, and reality made him feel...  _ sober _ . Because reality came with the truth. "Oh... right..." 

Because, within the life he'd been living, the only thing  _ real _ was his inability to distance himself from the past he'd been trying to run away from for over a year.

The next sigh that left Mack's lips was softer, almost gentle,  _ pitying _ , and it was enough to make him squirm. He didn't want pity or sympathy; he just wanted his life back, no matter how impossible that might seem.

"You should sleep. You might be waiting a while. He radioed a little while ago asking permission to brunch. Actually,  _ Sequoia  _ was the one who did all the talking. She mentioned something about  _ frosé _ ? Whatever that is."

\--

Deke stayed flat on his back once he was ushered back into bed by SHIELD's medical staff, staring up at the ceiling with a frown. He knew that, medically, it was impossible, but it felt like all of the drugs had worn off as soon as he found out where  _ Agent Kahn _ had gotten off to. Or, rather, like all of the drugs were a redundancy - because knowing that the man who had posed as his best friend was off at a  _ brunch _ with his ex-girlfriend was too much. It wasn't an ache as much as it was a complete numbness that made it impossible to do anything but  _ think _ .

Even just a few months ago, the idea of Trevor and Sequoia doing  _ anything _ together would have seemed laughable. They hated each other too much to willingly spend time together that wasn't absolutely required of them, and even then the animosity in the air had always been obvious. There was too much reluctance in their forced acquaintanceship to make these brunch arrangements make sense. The least they could have done was  _ telling him _ , instead of letting him find out from  _ Mack _ .

Rolling onto his uninjured side, Deke aimed his frown at the wall, instead, and let out a small, frustrated huff. He didn't even know who he was more upset with, in the grand scheme of things - Trevor, for lying to him for so long, or himself, for falling for it so easily. Everything he'd been through, all the things he'd learned while living under the Kree, he should have remembered something as simple as not trusting anyone. Whether he felt like he could set aside his innate paranoia for one person should have never been called into consideration the way it had, because whenever this numbness ended, it was going to hurt like hell.

_ "Commander, I'm out." _

__ _ "Then make 'em count." _

__ The Framework, he supposed, as artificial as it had been, wasn't any less real than everything else in his life at the time. If anything, it might have been  _ closer _ to the truth than what he had been led to believe. In the Framework, at least, he knew that Trevor had some extent of training, and the danger he thought he'd escaped was around every corner. Except, within the program, everything was  _ good _ . He avenged his friend, he saved the day, he got the girl. What he didn't know how to do was make that translate into reality, where his friend could save himself and the day, and then apparently took the girl out for brunch the next day, while  _ he _ was stuck in bed because he happened to get in the way and got himself hurt.

If he hadn't grabbed so much tech on his way out, maybe things would have been different. According to the multiverse theory, there  _ was _ a universe out there where things weren't so crazy, where he was still successful, and his best friend wasn't a double agent. Or, he could think about the universe where he had his company and there was no one close enough to him to worry about betraying him like this, in a way that hurt to his very core.

Thoughts of different variants on his life drifted through his mind, the ache and the superficial pain from the alien blade returning while the hours passed. After spending so long weighing the pros and cons of each option, Deke didn't even know which one he would want to live in the most until after he heard footsteps on the tile floor that led from the door to his bedside - or, nearly to it, judging on when the sound stopped. He had long since closed his eyes, feigning sleep so that the doctors would stop asking him questions, but he wasn't in a state anywhere near rest, and the voice that reached his ears certainly wasn't one of the ones that had been tormenting him all day.

"Deke...?"

In his ideal universe, one of the newer ones that had come to mind, he supposed he wouldn't change much. Because there was too much of SHIELD in his life and in Trevor's, and removing it completely would change both of them too much. They simply wouldn't be them, and what he wanted boiled down to  _ them _ . He wanted that easy friendship back. He wanted the concerts and the botched escape room attempts and the dumb videogame tournaments, even if he knew he was only winning because his friend was losing on purpose.  _ That _ was the kind of alternate universe he wanted to live in.

He wanted a universe where his best friend was still a SHIELD agent, but where he didn't have to sit idly by while it happened, where he didn't only know him because he apparently needed a  _ babysitter _ . For a while, he had the perfect life, with the success and the woman and the friend he'd always wanted, and it felt  _ real _ . The illusion shattered and gave way to the truth that wasn't even so bad - until he woke up alone in a bed in the Lighthouse's medical wing, with the friend he still wanted to trust nowhere to be found, somewhere far away with the ex-girlfriend he'd accepted he couldn't salvage things with. In that moment, the betrayal he'd felt had only hardened, and the time after that made him realize what he wanted, more than anything else.

As time passed, the presence behind him left again, and he let his eyes open while footsteps quietly echoed around the room and took his best friend away with them, just like this universe seemed to do best.


End file.
